Palestinian government to isolate Hamas

Geneva: The Palestinian government is determined to isolate Hamas in the aftermath of its violent takeover of the Gaza Strip, and is supporting Lebanese efforts to root out extremists in Palestinian refugee camps, President Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday.

Abbas, appearing on a podium alongside Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, said Hamas had committed "crimes, murder and aggression against everything Palestinians stand for" in its takeover earlier this month of the Gaza Strip.

Socialist support

The Palestinian government, which is now in control only of the West Bank, is "determined to isolate the coup d'etat, delegitimise all militias and to enforce law and order over all parts of the Palestinian territory," he told a meeting of the Socialist International, an organisation that brings together left-wing political parties from around the world.

Abbas expressed similar scorn for the Al Qaida-inspired militants who have battled Lebanese troops from their base in a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of that country.

"The Lebanese army, with our full support, is trying to uproot the militias and gangsters who are exploiting the name of Palestine," Abbas said.

Talabani also focused his speech on threats posed by extremists, asking Socialist parties from around the world to support Iraq's government in its fight against terrorism.

"Iraq is coming under an external invasion of terrorists from all parts of the Arab world, from the Maghreb, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria," he told delegates.

"Iraq has now become an arena for the conniving of most of these governments against our people."